Greetings!

Week 2 of the Greenhouse Project in Chajmaic was exciting and revolutionary, in that this was the first time that a solution for self-sustainability had come to this remote, indigenous village in the mountains of Guatemala.

Take a look at this video of how Federico begins teaching how to care for the plants (Day 1 of Week 2: Monday, April 4, 2022):
On Tuesday, April 5th, Federico led the first official planting class with the 30 participant families. Notice the look of fascination, complete commitment, and delight on their faces in these two videos:
After the class, each family received their seedlings and fertilizer with the instructions to complete the task within one week, but to be careful not to plant during the hottest part of the day because the seedlings would dry out:
Sowing Opportunities' Project Manager, Ricardo San José Roca stands with one of the family participants who has just received the seedlings, fertilizer and insecticide that he brought with him on Monday, April 4th from Antigua, Guatemala. The look of delight and pride is evident on both of their faces.
What happened after the first class was nothing less than incredible. Even though only about 2% of the village has a cell signal, Ricardo called me, excited about the news:

The people were given one week to do their first greenhouse bed. They were told that they can’t do it in the hottest part of the day. So, they worked all night and completed the task in one night!

On Wednesday, April 6th, they were waiting at the entrance of their homes, ready for the inspection. Federico told them that the job was perfectly done.

As a result of their efforts, they will receive the plants for the 2nd greenhouse bed that they built during Week 1.

This means that Ricardo will make a 4th trip from Antigua to Chajmaic - around the middle of May, extending the project because of the participants' enthusiasm and dedication.

Ricardo says they achieved 250% within these past three weeks (including the first week that Federico arrived, March 20, 2022).

Federico says they’re going to start eating within three weeks!

And, due to the enthusiasm and excellence, corn and possibly chilis will be grown around the perimeter.

Take a look at the results! This was what Federico and Ricardo saw at each of the 30 family greenhouses the next day after their first class!
Here, Federico is teaching families how to fertilize - with which bottles and how often for each.
The fertilizer used is chicken manure. The water being used is rain water because it's cleaner than water from the river, El Río Cahabón. Eventually, Sowing Opportunities will focus on filtering the 600,000 gallon tank of water that the municipality of Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas installed in January 2018.
You can see from how people are covering their heads that the heat is beating down.
We are grateful that we have come this far. If would share this email with other people who are interested in Sowing Opportunities' mission, we would be most appreciative.

We are seeking funds for Ricardo deliver seedlings and supplies for the participants' 2nd greenhouse beds. This 4th trip was added because of the passion, commitment, and literal hunger of the participants.

As always, 100% of the funds raised go directly to the people in need in this remote, indigenous village of Chajmaic, Guatemala.

You can contact us at info@sowingops.org.

Thank you!
Sowing Opportunities, Inc.
21 Ivy Road
Malden, MA 02148
www.sowingops.org